A FORMER Tory MSP has been cleared of wrongdoing by Parliament over claims she failed to properly declare financial interests.
Alison Harris was a Conservative representative for the Central Scotland region from 2016 to 2021 and the Tory spokesperson for taxation and financial sustainability.
She was accused of underreporting the value of shares she owned in the Georgian Finance Company Limited.
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The Ethical Standards Commissioner found against Harris but was overruled by MSPs tasked with investigating the complaint brought forward by Joe Lo.
The Scottish Parliament's Standards Procedures and Public Appointments committee unanimously found Harris had not breached the MSPs code of conduct.
Their findings contradict those of the Ethical Standards Commissioner which found Harris had declared figures which undervalued her shares in the company.
The committee took the view it was not possible to determine the "definitive market value" of shares and said experts could give different values for the same shares.
Harris said her shares were effectively unsalable and therefore only valued them at the nominal price of £1 - something the commissioner disputed in her report published today.
Martin Whitfield, the committee convenor, said while the committee had not found Harris to have broken the rules, it was vital MSPs acted with the "utmost transparency" over their interests.
Whitfield said: “In relation to the Commissioner’s conclusion, the Committee does not agree that there are sufficient grounds to conclude that there has been a breach of the Interests of Members of the Scottish Parliament Act 2006 and the Code of Conduct.
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“Alison Harris registered an interest in shares on the basis that she held more than 1% of the nominal value of the issued share capital of the company.
“She did not, additionally, register these shares on the basis of the market value exceeding 50% of a member’s salary at the start of the relevant parliamentary session because she ascertained the value of the shares to have a market value of £1.
“While the Committee recognises that a fair observer might reasonably consider the market value to be higher, there were conflicting expert views on the market value of the shares.
“In addition, the Committee could not draw on either a definition of market value or a prescribed method for reaching a market valuation within the Code to reach an incontrovertible conclusion that the market value of the shares exceeded the threshold.
“For these reasons, the Committee does not consider it is in a position to reach the conclusion that a breach of either the Act or the Code has taken place.”
The Ethical Standards Commissioner will release the results of its own report later today.
Alison Harris was approached for comment.
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